First Week of October Randomness

These simply make me happy.As do these.

Here are just a few thoughts I've had this week.

1) Politics. I'm back to remembering why I didn't like politics in the first place. It all boils down to he.said.she.said.she.said.he.said. Who knows who's telling the truth and who's lying? Sarah Palin didn't do well in the debate on Thursday night, but I'm not a fan of Joe Biden either. For a fleeting moment I thought I might begin to enjoy politics. Not so much.

2) The economy. So I was just out, at 8pm running errands on a Saturday night, and you can't tell me the economy is all that bad. I mean - the restaurants are PACKED. Outback parking lot was packed. You're not getting out of that restaurant for under $20 a person. The movie theatre parking lot was more full than I have ever seen it. That ain't a cheap night, either. Target was wall-to-wall people. The grocery store was frustratingly full. I'm sorry but either someone is lying or someone is in major debt and keeps going out and spending more money that he/she doesn't have, because honestly, stores and restaurants are as busy as ever.

3) Escalators. I killed about a half an hour yesterday, going up and down and up and down and up and down the escalators with Jackson. I was a wee bit dizzy and by the looks of it, so was Jackson.

But who knew that escalators were such cheap entertainment!

4) Chicago Botanic Gardens. I LOVE the Chicago Botanic Gardens. I can't say that enough. The Gardens bring stillness to my heart. I had the option to have the morning off and be alone, or go with the family to the Botanic Gardens. You know what I picked? The Botanic Gardens, silly. Jack must promise that when I get old and grey and senile that he will simply take me outdoors. And if he's dead, will one of you, my faithful readers, promise to do that for me? I don't ask for much - just a walk outside every now and then. Please?

5) Trains. At a local garage sale that I just happened upon this summer (I'd like to think it was a Divine Appointment), I spent $2 for this and it has given me hours and hours of time because Jackson is CRAZY about trains. Choo choo he calls it. He'll sit for a LONG time and play, by himself. De-LIGHT-ful!!! He is two and a half and he is ALLLLLLLL about trains. We have another train set (Leap Frog) that Maddie had when she was little, that teaches phonics while the train goes around and around, so that is getting put to great use, too. Who knew little boys were so into trains. Who knew that trains were a gift from God? They are to me, that's for sure!

6) Door County. Our annual trip is coming up and I can hardly wait to get there. I'm trying not to think about all the prep work that needs to take place prior to getting in the car next week, but it will be worth it all when we pull into our site, set up the tent and get the fire going! Ahhh, can't you smell the forest already? And one little word for you: S'MORES!

7) MustardYellow Jacket. Newsflash. I'm not a shopper. Really, I'm not. I hate clothes shopping the most. Perhaps if I were a smaller size I might enjoy it more, but I doubt it. From what I hear, even if you're a size 2, it's still hard to find clothes that fit. I'd like to think that my size-2-friend that says she has a hard time finding jeans is a little out of touch with reality. I shall withhold her name so that she doesn't get hate mail from the rest of my friends who are NOT size two. I mean, REALLY. Can you be that close to a size ZERO and not find something that fits? Someone's lying. In any event, I hate clothes shopping but every once in a great while I'll find JUST THE RIGHT THING that I must own. And this, my mustand yellow jacket, is just the right thing. I love it. I feel good in it. It's somewhat trendy so most days when I don't feel trendy I put it on and voila, I feel good!

8) My family. I love them. That's the simple truth.

They make me happy.

9) Flowers. Aren't these flowers so beautiful? And the thing I most always think about when I see gorgeous flowers is this: God is SO creative. I mean, He didn't just create one shade of purple. Oh no - not my God. He created a tonne of shades of purple. And different sizes and shapes and types of flowers and He's really quite breath-taking, isn't He? I love the Creator part of my God. I love Him. I guess I look at flowers and say to myself, "And there are people out there that do not believe in God. Mind-boggling. Simply mind-boggling."

10) Diapers. So tonight, October 4th, at 6:50pm, Jackson went poops on the big-boy toilet. And number one, too. And, I'll say it up front, I think we, as a family, cheered louder for that than we did for Jack's frisbee game this afternoon. We hooted and hollared and Jackson yelled and laughed and cheered right along with us. We looked into the toilet to see his 'work' (yes, I know it's gross, but that's part of the deal). He flushed with great gusto. He was SOOOOO proud of himself. So who knows. Could THISbe the last box of diapers I have to buy? Could it be? This is how I feel. I could jump from the tree-tops, just like Jackson did today at the Botanic Gardens! I'm certainly not getting my hopes up, but I'm going to work like a crazy woman to get ride of the diapers. I'm officially going back into TASK-MODE. Big-boy undies are our friends! Maybe Thomas the Train under-roos will give Jackson just the type of inspiration he needs to finally say 'bye-bye' to diapers and hello freedom!

So there you have it. First week of October completeridiculous randomness. This is how my brain works. Jumble up a million thoughts, most of which are about nothingness, and there you have it - the inner workings of Alysa!

I'm a self-proclaimed outgoing introvert, who loves photography, writing, reading, adventure, social justice, travel, being outdoors and much more. I love being Jack's wife and Maddie and Jackson's mama. I love Jesus, I love helping others, and love to laugh!